And the best horse has won! Sovereignty, a bay colt owned by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum of Dubai and trained by Bill Mott, a trainer who had a previous win in 2019, has won the Kentucky Derby by 1 1/2 lengths! Ridden by Junior Alvarado, Sovereignty lived up to his name. “Every move I was making, that horse was just there for me every single time,” Alvarado said of the win and the synchronicity he experienced with the horse, especially in the moment where he overshot Journalism, who was the favorite!
Journalism, also a bay colt ridden by Umberto Rispoli, ended up placing second, and for the management team, the question now is about the next thing: Preakness.
However, both horses’ trainers have different plans when it comes to the same. Mott has said of Sovereignty, “I think over the years people realize spacing these horses out a little bit gives you the opportunity to make them last a little longer and I think we’re looking at a career. We want the career to last more than five weeks.” Which is a heartening statement, taking into consideration the longevity of this year’s champion, especially with regard to how longevity wasn’t really taken into consideration in previous years.
Sovereignty far from definite for Preakness. Mott: “I think over the years people realize spacing these horses out a little bit gives you the opportunity to make them last a little longer and I think we’re looking at a career. We want the career to last more than five weeks.” 1/2
— David Grening (@DRFGrening) May 4, 2025
Michael W. McCarthy, who is Journalism’s trainer, however, is still hungry for the win; his statement reads, “We’ll speak to everybody and come up with a game plan. You’re always anxious to try it again and he’s run well off of short rest. We’ll see. If he’s good you have to think about it,” Which isn’t a definitive yes, but a ‘if he can do it, why not give it a shot.’
Baeza, who placed third, however, is definitely skipping Preakness and aiming for Belmont. Again, considering the history of racing and the fatigue faced by horses, it is heartening to see this change in mindset, but for the fans and the stakeholders, it is probably a downer.
The track record of successive racing fatigue after the Kentucky Derby can affect Sovereignty’s decision
While the Kentucky Derby has been around since 1875, the Triple Crown races started in 1932 and winning all three races that comprise it, is considered the highest honour in equestrian sports. The three races are the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes, and in the 93 years they have been in action, only thirteen horses have managed to win all three, which says that while it’s possible, successive racing fatigue is probably also a very real thing.
We can look at two cases. One of Mystik Dan, the winner of the 2024 Kentucky Derby, who went on to compete in Preakness and placed second, he even competed in the Belmont Stakes but placed 8th, which might have been an outfall of his fatigue. However, it didn’t hold him back for long as this year Mystik Dan is set to compete again in the Lake Ouachita Stakes.
On the other hand there is also the tragedy of Barbaro. The horse who won the Kentucky Derby by 6.5 lengths went on to compete in Preakness and soon after he exited the gate collapsed, fracturing an ankle. Despite 8 months between vets and surgeries, Barbaro had to finally be euthanized on account of the accident. So, it is a matter of luck in some cases and a matter of paying attention to what the horse is capable of and what it isn’t.
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